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Book chapter2014Peer reviewed

Physical treatment of the equine athlete

Bergh, A.

Abstract

Sports medicine is a highly important area in the equine world, not only for elite sport horses, but also for the average horse in training. It includes different types of physical modalities for the treatment of musculoskeletal disorders. In this chapter, techniques such as thermotherapy, therapeutic ultrasound, extracorporeal shock wave therapy, electrical stimulation, laser therapy and magnetic field therapy will be described. The techniques are described by providing background information, indications and contraindications, mechanism of action, a general description of treatment protocols, and finally a short overview of the outcome measures documented in the literature. There are very few validated treatment protocols for horses. Therefore, additional focus has been made to describe the mechanism of action. Techniques that lack clinical documentation might still be regarded as promising if there is a well-documented mechanism of action. The following information is mainly based on equine practice, but if there was a lack of scientific documentation regarding horses, examples are given from studies of other species. Therefore the text includes both case studies in horses and meta-analyzes in humans, studies that obviously do not have the same scientific nor clinical significance, but can be valuable to read. Many therapies are claimed to stimulate the regeneration process, often by a reduction of inflammation and swelling, an increase in blood circulation and alleviation of pain. Depending on the aim of the treatment and its specific target tissue, its efficacy may be measured with a variety of assessment tools, often with higher intra-rater reliability than inter-rater reliability. For example, pain perception can be assessed with palpation1 , pain scales and questionnaires2 , muscle tenderness (mechanical nociceptive threshold) with an algometer3,4, the degree of swelling and muscle bulk can be measured with diagnostic ultrasound, but also with simpler tools like measuring tape and calipers. The joint range of motion may be assessed with goniometer (Fig. 64.1).5 Lameness can be evaluated by ordinary clinical lameness examination, but also with different forms of motion analyzes such as force plates, pressure mats, and high-velocity filming.

Published in

Title: Equine Sports Medicine and Surgery : Basic and clinical sciences of the equine athlete: Second Edition
Publisher: Elsevier Ltd.

SLU Authors

UKÄ Subject classification

Medical Bioscience
Clinical Science

Publication identifier

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-7020-4771-8.00064-8
  • ISBN: 9780702047718
  • eISBN: 978 0 7020 5422 8

Permanent link to this page (URI)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/132167